Definition of dinosaur Dinosaur

/dajˈnʌsɔˌɹ/ - [daynusor] - di•no•saur

We found 9 definitions of dinosaur from 7 different sources.

What does dinosaur mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: dinosaurs
dinosaur - any of numerous extinct terrestrial reptiles of the Mesozoic era
		archosaur, archosaurian, archosaurian reptile extinct reptiles including: dinosaurs; plesiosaurs; pterosaurs; ichthyosaurs; thecodonts
		ornithischian, ornithischian dinosaur herbivorous dinosaur with a pelvis like that of a bird
		iguanodon massive herbivorous bipedal dinosaur with a long heavy tail; common in Europe and northern Africa; early Cretaceous period
		saurischian, saurischian dinosaur herbivorous or carnivorous dinosaur having a three-pronged pelvis like that of a crocodile
		diplodocus a huge quadrupedal herbivore with long neck and tail; of late Jurassic in western North America
		titanosaur, titanosaurian amphibious quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur with a long thin neck and whiplike tail; of the Cretaceous mostly in the southern hemisphere
		argentinosaur huge herbivorous dinosaur of Cretaceous found in Argentina

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Wiktionary

dinosaur (Noun)
Any of various extinct reptiles belonging to the Dinosauria, existing between about 230 million and 65 million years ago.
dinosaur (Noun)
A person or organisation which is very old or has very old-fashioned views or is not willing to change and adapt.
dinosaur (Noun)
Anything that is no longer in common use or practice.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

dinosaur (n.)
Alt. of Dinosaurian

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

dinosaur
A vertebrate animal that dominated terrestrial ecosystems for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. (source: Wikipedia)

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

dinosaur
dī′no-sawr, n. a gigantic extinct reptile, which attained a length of eighty feet. [Formed from Gr. deinos, terrible, and sauros, lizard.]

Wikipedia

Dinosaurs ("Dinosauria") were reptiles that lived a very long time ago. The word "dinosaur" comes from Greek, meaning "terrible lizard". Scientists think dinosaurs first appeared about 230 million years ago. About 65 million years ago, dinosaurs became extinct. Birds are sometimes considered descendants of dinosaurs.

There were many kinds of dinosaurs. Today scientists know about hundreds of different kinds of dinosaurs. Some, called herbivores, ate plants and others, called carnivores, ate meat. The largest dinosaurs were plant-eaters, like "Apatosaurus" and "Brachiosaurus". They were the largest animals to ever walk on dry land.

Other plant-eaters had special weapons, to help them fight off the meat-eaters. For example, "Triceratops" had three horns on its face, "Ankylosaurus" was covered in boney plates, and "Stegosaurus" had spikes on its tail. Scientists have a good idea of what they looked like, because of the bones that have been found.

Most meat-eaters ran around on their back legs, like people do. Some were very large, like "Tyrannosaurus" and "Spinosaurus", but some were small, like "Compsognathus". It was the smaller sized meat-eaters that may have evolved into birds. One of the first birds was "Archaeopteryx", but it looked much like a dinosaur.

There were large flying reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs called Pterosaurs, but they were not closely related to dinosaurs or even birds. There were also many kinds of large reptiles that could swim, like